Thursday, April 25, 2013

Who didn't love watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a kid? Crime-fighting reptiles named after Renaissance artists with martial arts abilities - what's not to like? True fans know that the only thing better than watching them was playing with their action figure counterparts. As a kid I had a pretty decent collection of the original 1988 Playmates TMNT figures & vehicles. Now, almost 25 years later, there's a new TV series and matching series of action figures to go along with it. Dive in to see all the details about the quintessential turtle action figure: Leonardo.

Let me first just say that I love the look of these new characters as action figures. The animated series they are molded after looks more like a video game than a show for kids but the physical toys themselves look really cool. I hate to say it but I think I may prefer the look of these figures to my original 1988 series figures. A lot of that probably has to do with the textural look of these new figures which gives them a more realistic visual presence where as those original figures were more smooth and shiny.

With that said let's break it down a little bit:

Pose Articulation

The figure has 11 points of articulation and although you can set him up for most "typical" poses sometimes the range of motion is lacking due to the bulky bandages on the joints or just simply because of how the articulation is designed. With that said the figure is still plenty fun to play with, pose and balance in precarious positions (my personal favorite activity with action figures).

Look and Feel

Like I mentioned earlier the feel of the figure is really great. It's got just the right amount of texture to make you feel like you're holding an actual mutant turtle (if there ever was such a thing). The front of the shell is a slightly different material and is actually pliable at the bottom to allow for a greater range of poses with the legs. The shell is hard and shiny but the brown straps and pads are softer which all seems very well thought out. The paint is a bit sloppy but considering the price of these figures it's hardly an issue.

Although I am specifically reviewing the Leonardo figure I do want to mention that each turtle has unique features to make it distinct from the others. Each one has a unique skin color, shell scarring, weapon strap, and overall physical size which is another nice touch.

Accessories

Each turtle comes with their signature weapon as well as a plastic grid of additional accessory weapons such as ninja stars and daggers. These are the kinds of little plastic pieces even an adult will lose over time so I recommend just leaving them in the box and admiring them from afar. I believe they are included for nostalgia purposes anyway at this point since I doubt these figures will suddenly develop the ability to shoot ninja stars!

Overall quality

I believe these figures will stand the test of time. They seem to be built with durability in mind. One example of this is the weapon sheath on the back of Leonardo's utility best. At first I noticed it wobbling around and thought it was probably attached to the rest of the belt by a small portion of plastic that would eventually tear off. I yanked at it and noticed that it was actually attached via a semicircle shaped hole that you can remove it from at will. This is not only realistic but also makes the toy more durable should it ever get yanked at too firmly. I think adults and children alike will appreciate little details such as this when smashing these figures together.

Final Thoughts

Overall, for the money, these are some pretty rad toys - err, action figures. The design is fresh and inspiring, the quality is solid and the playability is there for both child and adult alike. Because the figures were released last year it's actually becoming harder to find some of the figures from the series like Splinter, Shredder and April. To me that says that one day these may actually become valuable collectibles like the original figures have become. Sure, they aren't astoundingly expensive but they have doubled to quadrupled in value for unopened specimens so that is pretty cool. Honestly, these are cheap enough to buy two sets of so just do that if you want to be a collector and a kid!